DISCLAIMER: THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG POST PROFESSES TO NOT HAVING ANY INTENTIONS OF UNDERMINING POLITICAL FORCES AT WORK, AND WILL BE WROUGHT WITH JUSTIFIED INDIGNATION SHOULD THIS BLOG BE SHUT DOWN DUE TO MISINTERPRETATION OF ANY OPINIONS AIRED HERE.

Yay.
Happy Eve Of National Day and peace and goodwill to all men and all of that.

I am afraid to announce- *heavy sigh*- that this is officially my last post until I return from Phuket.

I know you'll miss me.

In any case. Today we had the National Day Celebrations at school. Which even came close to being fun- I mean, I know Maxy and I had a great time acting retardicated. [And humiliating the rest of 2G, yes] And despite the fact that Cheryl, Shu and Sarah kept poking me from behind in a goading attempt to make me squirm [Isn't it just appalling how some people can be so cruel?], yes, it was bearable and I kind of enjoyed myself.
Kind of.

Although I probably just humiliated myself into the thirtieth century by getting onstage during the National Day Forum to act as opposition towards one of our [-egad!] juniors.
I'm no PAP fangirl, but yes, I was steamed.

[2ND DISCLAIMER: THE AUTHOR OF THIS POST IS IN NO WAY ATTEMPTING TO OFFEND OR CONDEMN ANYBODY THROUGH WHAT IS WRITTEN HERE. So deal with it, kthxbye.]

And although I most likely came off sounding horribly incoherent and probably made no sense at all- I still stand behind my point.
Sometimes, we have to learn to accept that change may not be the best thing for the people as a whole. Sure, progression as a nation is always welcome. But "we can achieve so much more"? ...Really.
Remember what happens with over-ambition, class. We all take History lessons, aye? ...Well. I'm sure you can bring to mind at least five fingers' worth of leaders whose ambitions went too far...too soon. Sure, it may have worked out well and good at first. But then look what happened next.

We have a roof over our heads. We have education. Clothing. Housing. And most importantly, security.
What more could we ask for?

I do believe that the media has proven that it does place great emphasis- perhaps even to the extent of biasedness- on the PAP.
What I don't believe is that we have been brainwashed. What I do not believe is that we, as Singaporeans, are gullible and that we have somehow been entwined into some grand Men In White scheme.
...We? Gullible? Are we talking about the same Singaporeans here?
Please. So-called brainwashed people wouldn't be able to have a mind of their own. We would be marionettes, people. Puppets. Unable to think for ourselves. Dangled on strings by the powers that be.
I think that we are perfectly capable of thinking for ourselves and making our own judgements. I think we all have our own opinions- and, often as not- strong ones, at that. I doubt that that would be the definition of "gullible".

When you look around you; when you people watch at Orchard Road...do you see brainwashed people, pray tell?
Perhaps there might be something wrong with me...but I don't see brainwashed people.
I see a people who have moved so far from being some muddy, swamped out fishing village to the cosmopolitan hub we are today. I see progress. I see technological advancement. I see a nation that has soared high from where we started out.
And because of that, I feel proud.

If you're one of those self-professed urban radicals who equate rules as oppression...then beg pardon for my impertinence, but let me ask you.
Do you seriously think that our Government enjoys implementing rules?
The reason why Singapore is listed as an "Advanced Developing Country", and not "Developed Country"- is because of our apparent lack of a gracious society, for crying out loud. I used to think that it was ironic that we have "developing" in our title since Singapore is abundant in rules and all...but somebody later led me to see that no. It isn't ironic at all. We have to have rules because the majority of us lack the grace, the basic courtesy, and the fundamental EQ to behave as an advanced society should.

Okay, I don't dispute anybody's right to their own opinion. After all, in the words of PM Lee Hsien Loong, and I quote: "We encourage people to express their views and to have a view. Our problem is in that many people don't really have a view."
Go figure.
I know that there're people out there trying to be anti-establishment; because they somehow associate that with "rebel", which they somehow [strangely enough] associate with "cool". Or, perhaps, for the sake of writing a titillating and controversial essay/blogpost/column/journal entry that will garner them the support of random members of the public and put them in a place of great interest.

Naturally, if you're going to write some essay or blog a thousand-word rant dripping with cynicism and despondency about "*insertMPnamehere* sUx larrrr!", or make some unfounded and uncalled for anti-government statement...then please, by all means. Expect to have your life changed. Drastically.
Like, um. If somebody flamed you on his/her blog and tried to stir up totally unneccessary discord about you...wouldn't you get mad?

Please, we're all only human, after all.

And. Count your blessings, people. We ARE progressing, for crying out loud. We ARE getting somewhere. Where have you been all this while?
We've got it good here.
And you know it.
So deal with that.